Transformable toy

ABSTRACT

A transformable toy  10  includes: an annular member  11  which is formed out of an elastic material so as to be able to be turned inside out; and constituent members  20, 21, 22  and  23  which are attached to the annular member  11;  wherein: the constituent members  20, 21, 22  and  23  include protruding portions  20   a,    20   b,    21   a,    21   b,    22   a,    22   b,    23   a  and  23   b  which protrude outward from at least one of a front side  11   a  and a back side  11   b  of the annular member  11.  Thus, it is possible to provide a transformable toy which can avoid a problem of the manufacturing cost or a problem that techniques may be required for operation and whose form can be changed largely.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a transformable toy whose form can be changed.

2. Description of the Background Art

In the background art, for example, there have been known transformabletoys each of which can be transformed from a robot into a vehicle. Sucha transformable toy is often constituted by movable parts which arecombined complicatedly. In order to change a form of this type oftransformable toy, operation has to be performed to move the parts inaccordance with a specific procedure so as to change the way the partsare attached (e.g. see Japanese Design Registration No. 1420958).

As another transformable toy, for example, a doll toy has been disclosedin JP-A-49-93139 as follows. That is, the doll is designed to be formedout of a flexible material so that a form of the doll can be changedwhen the doll is turned inside out.

However, the structure of the aforementioned transformable toy includingthe complicated parts as disclosed in Japanese Design Registration No.1420958 is complicated due to an increase in the number of the parts.Therefore, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost may increase.In addition, the procedure for transforming the transformable toy iscomplicated. Therefore, there is a problem that techniques may berequired for the operation so that a young child cannot play with thetransformable toy.

In this respect, the structure of the aforementioned doll toy disclosedin JP-A-49-93139 is simple. Therefore, it is possible to avoid theproblem of the manufacturing cost or the problem that techniques may berequired for operation. However, due to the simple structure, there is aproblem that the form after the change can be predicted so that the formchange per se lacks fun.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a transformable toywhich can avoid a problem of the manufacturing cost or a problem thattechniques may be required for operation and whose form can be changedlargely.

The invention has been accomplished in order to solve the aforementionedproblems. The invention is characterized as follows.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided atransformable toy including: an annular member which is formed out of anelastic material so as to be able to be turned inside out; andconstituent members which are attached to the annular member; wherein:the constituent members include protruding portions which protrudeoutward from at least one of a front side and a back side of the annularmember.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the constituent membersare provided with the protruding portions on the front side and the backside of the annular member so as to have different shapes between theprotruding portions on the front side of the annular member and theprotruding portions on the back side of the annular member.

According to a third or fourth aspect of the invention, the annularmember includes attachment portions which are provided for attaching theconstituent members thereto respectively, and each of bendable portionswhich is bent into a wavy shape is provided between adjacent ones of theattachment portions.

According to a fifth or sixth aspect of the invention, the constituentmembers are attached to the attachment portions to pinch the attachmentportions, so that transformation of the attachment portions can besuppressed.

According to any of seventh to twelfth aspects of the invention, theconstituent members are formed to be able to overlap one another.

In the first aspect of the invention as described above, provided is thetransformable toy including: the annular member which is formed out ofthe elastic material so as to be able to be turned inside out; and theconstituent members which are attached to the annular member; wherein:the constituent members include the protruding portions which protrudeoutward from at least one of the front side and the back side of theannular member. According to such a configuration, when the annularmember is turned inside out, the protruding portions of the constituentmembers face inward or outward. Thus, a form of the transformable toycan be changed due to the change on external appearance of theconstituent members.

In addition, the structure can be also made simple without increasingthe number of parts. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost can besuppressed. Moreover, in order to change the form, it is not necessaryto perform operation for moving the parts in accordance with a specificprocedure but merely necessary to turn the annular member inside out.Accordingly, no special technique is required for operation. Thus, evena player who does not have any knowledge or a young child can play withthe transformable toy.

In addition, when the annular member is turned inside out, the inwardprotruding portions of the constituent members protrude outward all atonce. Accordingly, the form changes largely instantaneously. Thus, theform after the change cannot be predicted so that unexpected form changecan be achieved.

In the second aspect of the invention as described above, theconstituent members are provided with the protruding portions on thefront side and the back side of the annular member so as to havedifferent shapes between the protruding portions on the front side ofthe annular member and the protruding portions on the back side of theannular member. According to such a configuration, the form changes morelargely so that fun of the form change can increase.

In the third or fourth aspect of the invention as described above, theannular member includes the attachment portions which are provided forattaching the constituent members thereto respectively, and each of thebendable portions which is bent into the wavy shape is provided betweenadjacent ones of the attachment portions. According to such aconfiguration, even in a state in which the constituent members havebeen attached, the bendable portions can be bent so that the annularmember can be turned inside out easily. Moreover, due to expansion andcontraction of the annular member at the bendable portions, no excessiveload is imposed on the annular member when the annular member is turnedinside out. Accordingly, the annular member can be prevented from beingbroken.

In the fifth or sixth aspect of the invention as described above, theconstituent members are attached to the attachment portions to pinch theattachment portions, so that transformation of the attachment portionscan be suppressed. According to such a configuration, transformation ofthe annular member can be suppressed by the constituent members. Thus,the form of the transformable toy can be maintained in an intendedshape.

In any of the seventh to twelfth aspects as described above, theconstituent members are formed to be able to overlap one another.According to such a configuration, presence of the annular member ishidden by the constituent members overlapping one another. Therefore, amechanism about the form change is not exposed. Thus, unpredictabilityof the form change can be enhanced and the design can be enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of the external appearance of a transformable toy whichis a form of a robot;

FIG. 2 is a view of the external appearance of the transformable toywhich is being transformed from the form of the robot;

FIG. 3 is a view of the external appearance of the transformable toywhich has been transformed into a form of a vehicle;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are views of the external appearance of an annularmember, FIG. 4A being a view of a state in which a front side of theannular member faces outward, FIG. 4B being a view of a state in which aback side of the annular member faces outward;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which constituent members areattached to the annular member;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views showing a state in which a head member isrotated reversely, FIG. 6A being a view of a state in which a front sideof the head member faces outward, FIG. 6B being a view of a state inwhich a back side of the head member faces outward;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views showing a state in which arm members arerotated reversely, FIG. 7A being a view of a state in which front sidesof the arm members face outward, FIG. 7B being a view of a state inwhich back sides of the arm members face outward; and

FIGS. 8A and 8B are views showing a state in which a leg member isrotated reversely, FIG. 8A being a view of a state in which a front sideof the leg member faces outward, FIG. 8B being a view of a state inwhich a back side of the leg member faces outward.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with referenceto the drawings.

A transformable toy 10 according to the embodiment has a form which canbe changed by a predetermined operation. The transformable toy 10 isformed to be able to be transformed from a first form into a second formand vice versa. In the embodiment, the transformable toy 10 is designedto take a form of a robot shown in FIG. 1 as the first form and take aform of a vehicle (airplane) shown in FIG. 3 as the second form.

The transformable toy 10 is provided with an annular member 11 andconstituent members. The annular member 11 is formed out of an elasticmaterial so as to be able to be turned inside out. The constituentmembers are attached to the annular member 11. When the annular member11 is turned inside out as shown in FIG. 2, the transformable toy 10 canbe transformed from the first form into the second form or from thesecond form into the first form.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the annular member 11 is a member whosebelt-like body is connected annularly. The annular member 11 is formedout of the elastic material such as a resin. The annular member 11 isprovided with attachment portions 12 for attaching the constituentmembers thereto respectively. In addition, each of bendable portions 13which is bent into a wavy shape is provided between adjacent ones of theattachment portions 12. In the embodiment, the attachment portions 12are provided at four upper, lower, left and right places. Therefore, thenumber of the constituent members is also four, and the number of thebendable portions 13 is also four.

Incidentally, the bendable portions 13 are formed zigzag in inward andoutward directions. The bendable portions 13 to which the constituentmembers are not attached are exposed, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Assume that, of the annular member 11, one side is set as a front side11 a and the other side is set as a back side 11 b. In this case, whenthe front side 11 a is turned to come to the outside as shown in FIG.4A, the transformable toy 10 takes the first form. In addition, when theback side 11 b is turned to come to the outside as shown in FIG. 4B, thetransformable toy 10 takes the second form.

The constituent members are attached to the attachment portions 12 ofthe annular member 11 to cover the attachment portions 12, as shown inFIG. 5. The constituent members are formed out of a material higher inrigidity than the annular member 11. The constituent members areattached to the attachment portions 12 so as to pinch the attachmentportions 12 from the opposite front and back sides. When the constituentmembers are attached in this manner, transformation of the attachmentportions 12 can be suppressed.

That is, when the annular member 11 is turned inside out before theconstituent members are attached to the annular member 11, theattachment portions 12 are transformed as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Inexamples shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the attachment portions 12 curve toprotrude more outward when the front side 11 a is turned to face outwardthan when the back side 11 b is turned to face outward. When theconstituent members which are rigid are attached to the attachmentportions 12 transformed in this manner, the transformation of theattachment portions 12 can be suppressed.

Incidentally, these constituent members are provided with protrudingportions protruding from at least one of the front side 11 a and theback side 11 b of the annular member 11. Thus, the constituent membersform an external shape of the first form or the second form.Specifically, the transformable toy 10 according to the embodiment isprovided with four constituent members, i.e. a head member 20, a leftarm member 21, a right arm member 22 and a leg member 23. The fourconstituent members are attached to upper, lower, left and right sidesof the annular member 11.

The head member 20 is a part shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The heat member20 is provided with protruding portions on the front side 11 a and theback side 11 b of the annular member 11 so as to have different shapesbetween the protruding portion on the front side 11 a and the protrudingportion on the back side 11 b. Specifically, a front-side protrudingportion 20 a which serves as a head portion in the form of the robot isformed protrusively on the front side 11 a of the annular member 11, anda back-side protruding portion 20 b which serves as a front end portionin the form of the vehicle is formed protrusively on the back side 11 bof the annular member 11.

The left arm member 21 and the right arm member 22 are parts shown inFIGS. 7A and 7B. Each of the left arm member 21 and the right arm member22 is provided with protruding portions on the front side 11 a and theback side 11 b of the annular member 11 so as to have different shapesbetween the protruding portion on the front side 11 a and the protrudingportion on the back side 11 b. Specifically, front-side protrudingportions 21 a and 22 a which serve as a left arm and a right armrespectively in the form of the robot are formed protrusively on thefront side 11 a of the annular member 11, and back-side protrudingportions 21 b and 22 b which serve as side portions respectively in theform of the vehicle are formed protrusively on the back side 11 b of theannular member 11.

The leg member 23 is a part shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. The leg member 23is provided with protruding portions on the front side 11 a and the backside 11 b of the annular member 11 so as to have different shapesbetween the protruding portions on the front side 11 a and theprotruding portion on the back side 11 b. Specifically, front-sideprotruding portions 23 a which serve as leg portions in the form of therobot are formed protrusively on the front side 11 a of the annularmember 11, and a back-side protruding portion 23 b which serves as arear end portion in the form of the vehicle is provided on the back side11 b of the annular member 11.

According to such a transformable toy 10, when the annular member 11 isturned inside out, the protruding portions of the constituent membersface inward or outward. Thus, the form of the transformable toy 10 canbe changed due to the change on external appearance of the constituentmembers.

In addition, the constituent members per se are not movable.Accordingly, the structure can be also made simple without increasingthe number of the parts. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be suppressed.In addition, in order to change the form, it is not necessary to performoperation for moving the parts in accordance with a predeterminedprocedure but merely necessary to turn the annular member 11 inside out.Thus, no special technique is required for operation. Consequently, evena player who does not have any knowledge or a young child can play withthe transformable toy 10.

In addition, when the annular member 11 is turned inside out, the inwardprotruding portions of the constituent members are made to protrudeoutward all at once. Accordingly, the form changes largelyinstantaneously. Therefore, the form after the change cannot bepredicted so that unexpected form change can be achieved.

In addition, the annular member 11 includes the attachment portions 12which are provided for attaching the constituent members theretorespectively. Each of the bendable portions 13 which is bent into thewavy shape is provided between adjacent ones of the attachment portions12. Accordingly, even in a state in which the constituent members havebeen attached, the bendable portions 13 can be bent so that the annularmember 11 can be turned inside out easily. In addition, due to expansionand contraction of the annular member 11 at the bendable portions 13, noexcessive load is imposed on the annular member 11 when the annularmember 11 is turned inside out. Consequently, the annular member 11 canbe prevented from being broken.

In addition, the constituent members are attached to the attachmentportions 12 to pinch the attachment portions 12, so that transformationof the attachment portions 12 can be suppressed. According to such aconfiguration, transformation of the annular member 11 can be suppressedby the constituent members. Thus, the form of the transformable toy 10can be maintained in an intended shape.

In addition, the constituent members are formed to be able to overlapone another. That is, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the head member 20,the left arm member 21, the right arm member 22 and the leg member 23overlap one another on the inner side of the annular member 11 in frontview. When the head member 20, the left arm member 21, the right armmember 22 and the leg member 23 are disposed in this manner, no hollowis present at the center so that a user cannot be aware of the presenceof the annular member 11. Thus, the mechanism about the form change isnot exposed so that unpredictability of the form change can be enhancedand the design can be enhanced.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transformable toy comprising: an annular memberwhich is formed out of an elastic material so as to be able to be turnedinside out; and constituent members which are attached to the annularmember; wherein: the constituent members include protruding portionswhich protrude outward from at least one of a front side and a back sideof the annular member.
 2. A transformable toy according to claim 1,wherein: the constituent members are provided with the protrudingportions on the front side and the back side of the annular member so asto have different shapes between the protruding portions on the frontside of the annular member and the protruding portions on the back sideof the annular member.
 3. A transformable toy according to claim 1,wherein: the annular member includes attachment portions which areprovided for attaching the constituent members thereto respectively, andeach of bendable portions which is bent into a wavy shape is providedbetween adjacent ones of the attachment portions.
 4. A transformable toyaccording to claim 2, wherein: the annular member includes attachmentportions which are provided for attaching the constituent membersthereto respectively, and each of bendable portions which is bent into awavy shape is provided between adjacent ones of the attachment portions.5. A transformable toy according to claim 3, wherein: the constituentmembers are attached to the attachment portions to pinch the attachmentportions, so that transformation of the attachment portions can besuppressed.
 6. A transformable toy according to claim 4, wherein: theconstituent members are attached to the attachment portions to pinch theattachment portions, so that transformation of the attachment portionscan be suppressed.
 7. A transformable toy according to claim 1, wherein:the constituent members are formed to be able to overlap one another. 8.A transformable toy according to claim 2, wherein: the constituentmembers are formed to be able to overlap one another.
 9. A transformabletoy according to claim 3, wherein: the constituent members are formed tobe able to overlap one another.
 10. A transformable toy according toclaim 4, wherein: the constituent members are formed to be able tooverlap one another.
 11. A transformable toy according to claim 5,wherein: the constituent members are formed to be able to overlap oneanother.
 12. A transformable toy according to claim 6, wherein: theconstituent members are formed to be able to overlap one another.